02 April 2013

Week 7 - Constructivism

All I can say is "Wow"! What a great job the ladies did on the Constructivism presentation.

As I watched in class Thursday night, I reflected back to an art project I designed many years ago during my senior year at Montserrat. I designed a poster featuring the leading Russian Constructivist graphic designers. I was always fond of this movement and the art they created.

From Wikipedia:
"Constructivism was an artistic and architectural philosophy that originated in Russia beginning in 1919, which was a rejection of the idea of autonomous art. The movement was in favour of art as a practice for social purposes. Constructivism had a great effect on modern art movements of the 20th century, influencing major trends such as Bauhaus and the De Stijl movement. Its influence was pervasive, with major impacts upon architecture, graphic and industrial design, theatre, film, dance, fashion and to some extent music."
Here's my favorite one, a Russian Constructivist Poster designed by Rodchenko advertising replacement nipples for baby bottles:


The slogan is the best part of all:  "So good, you’ll want to suck ‘em until old age."

Perhaps the most famous of the Soviet Constructivist propaganda posters is this one by El Lissitzky titled "Beat the Whites with the Red Wedge":



"The artist constructs a new symbol with his brush. This symbol is not a recognizable form of anything which is already finished, already made, already existing in the world - it is a symbol of a new world, which is being built upon and which exists by way of people." - El Lissitzky

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